I said most of this in the analysis update, but I thought I would reiterate here.

The best bargain in this event is the festive castle which delivers better than any building under L60. You can only have one (unless you’re willing to spend $35000 to take advantage of this weekend’s mojo sale and buy another million mojo). So get it tonight.

Now. I mean it. Who knows when it will be gone?

If you are going to buy mojo, now is the time. I haven’t seen it this low in the entire two years of the game. $60 for 2000 is better than $100.

Don’t spend it on this week’s event if only because they only designed one character and just colored him differently. And because the magic forge isn’t worth spending tons of mojo on. Players at L8 who need the boost will probably be able to finish the event without mojo by planting every three hours and showing patience. As you catch knights as send them to friends, more will come your way. I caught all four of the lower level knights with no mojo fairly quickly.

I haven’t seen any princess although the six knights have their colors. But, I gotta say, does this guy look like a medieval Buzz Lightyear or what? Hope the Disney lawyers aren’t playing.

If you’re missing a couple of items the last night of the event, then you can think about it.

I noticed a disturbing trend in one of my realms recently. Time and time again the harvest orb wanted to know if I would complete 666 harvests.

If you saw this often enough, wouldn’t you consider it to be an omen? I mean, this number, of all numbers, the mother of all symbolic numbers. I found it truly disturbing.

If you don’t know the significance of 666….Well, how could you not know and still live in the 21st Century? After all, we see the number in every Omen movie and just about every other episode of Supernatural. We had a president with six letters in all three names only 30 years ago, and a second whose name would have spelled “666” if he was smart enough to spell.

I knew what it signified. The coming of the Antirule. The time when We Rule would be overcome by deadly corporate interests who would replace medieval whimsy with cheap commercial greed.

I showed my findings to Carol. I asked her if this could be the end of We Rule as we know it. She said, “Add another building.”

And that’s how I saved the world of We Rule. I now have 667 buildings to harvest. Crisis averted. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Hail Odin statue

A reader asked me to do an analysis of statues, which was timely since I had planned to do one anyway. Glad to know I’m in synch with my audience.

Most statues in We Rule are mere ornamentation, but a few deliver coins and experience. Several, such as the Ganesh statues, are gifts and can only be acquired by the luck of the draw. I included them in the Idle Income charts. But a couple can be purchased and deserve a closer look.

Just because a statue earns, doesn’t mean you should install it for income. The stone bull pillar, which costs 18000c, returns a lousy 20hcp. You’re far better off with just about anything if you want a serious return on your investment.

Odin’s statue, on the other hand, returns 183hcp every 18 hours and takes up about the same space as a grove. This is three times the return of a Poseidon fount for only twice the price (180000c). The Persian lion only costs 60000c and returns almost 90hcp every 20 hours. This is two thirds of the cost of a fount with half again the return. The Khmer Lion turns around every six hours at 120hcp for 80000c.

Odin’s statue is the newest in a series of high return statues that become available around L40. Statues tend to take up less space than other items, which can increase their value. The persian lions are minuscule compared to Odin.

So far the statues are luxury buys, which may be why they are available only at higher levels. They also tend to be limited to a few dozen per realm, which means you can’t plant as many. Players should concentrate on groves and residences first, but once you realize you are making enough to buy one or two a day (and not per week) it would be a good time to start adding a few.

As always, you shouldn’t worry about the initial investment cost. Higher priced items may take longer to pay off, but once they are paid off the performance return makes them far more valuable.

Milestone reached

I hit one billion experience points this week, something my friends and followers could have seen if we still had an experience point leader board. How does that compare to the top leaders? I have no way of knowing since the leader boards no longer tell us who the top earners are. I would have to bet Zimidar’s still up there with more than three billion points by now. But we don’t know that either since we can’t even see a player’s experience points. Please, ngmoco:), if you don’t want an experience points leaderboard, can’t you at least list our experience points next to our level when people visit. It would be nice to have something to brag about.

After two years I finally racked up my first billion points.
I don’t know whether I fell great or exhausted

Running the residence numbers

A couple of weeks ago I discussed the value of residences over groves and I thought I’d give the topic a closer look. I think many players lean towards groves because they are cheaper to buy, even though residences often deliver hourly. I’m not sure that’s always wise, especially if you’re trying to level up.

In the past I have tended to see residences as a suppliment to groves because ngmoco:) limited the number of any given residence to fifty or fewer. But the most recent series of residences—the persian residence, cupid cottage, fairy tree residences, and recent khmer series seem to allow as many as 196 per realm, as many as groves. The returns on these different cottages vary, but inevitably should you choose to fill a realm with them and harvest hourly (or even every three hours) the experience points accumulate and you can level up far more quickly.

In fact, if you want to level up more quickly I would suggest at least one realm filled with residences. (Obviously you would add residences five or six at a time). Then you can launch the app at every opportunity and cash in on the harvest.

On the other hand, the persian residence offers a higher return than the ruby grove even if you harvest on the same schedule. It is four times as expensive, but you may find it worth your while. Even if you harvest every six hours the payoff in experience is immediate. The residence returns 170 percent more than a ruby grove. If you harvest every hour, the return is 1000 percent in experience. In addition you’re earning more coins at a rate of 110 percent every six hours, 600 percent hourly. In addition, if you harvest hourly you can pay off the persian residence in half the time of a ruby grove.

I ran similar numbers for the fairy tree residence just to see what would happen. The fairy tree residence is more than twice the cost of a ruby grove, and the six hour payout is smaller. But once you check in every three hours to harvest, much less hourly, the rate of return increases.

Item

Cost

coins

xp

Paid*

Wkly c

Wkly xp

wkly cp

30 wkly†

ruby grove

8000

100

85

27

2100

1785

3885

116550

persian res 6 hr

30000

110

145

91

2310

3045

5355

160650

persian res hrly

660

870

15

13860

18270

32130

963900

Persian res 3 hr

330

435

30

6930

9135

16065

481950

fairy tree res 6 hr

17000

85

65

67

1785

1365

3150

94500

fairy tree res hrly

510

390

11

10710

8190

18900

567000

fairy tree res 3hr

255

195

22

5355

4095

9450

283500

*Number of days to recoup coins used for purchase

†Production per thirty units installed

If you’re at L50 or higher (especially if you stack) I would definitely go with the persian residences over groves as long as they’re available. You can afford the extra cost and the long range return will help you rack up those points you need to hit the really high levels. Of course, if you stack, you can add both and other residences as well.

In fact, one level filled with hourly items makes even more sense. You can check in every hour if you want to boost your return, but you will still have a huge return if you only check in three hours a day.